We must monitor buildings, (including) high-rise buildings and others
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) urged that high-rise buildings and schools being built in the capital city should be resistant to earthquakes to reduce the damaging impacts.

"We must monitor buildings, (including) high-rise buildings and others," Acting Chief of Jakarta BPBD Isnawa Adji remarked here on Tuesday.

In supervising buildings to have the ability to withstand earthquakes, the BPBD will cooperate with the Jakarta Investment Integrated One-Stop Service Center (DPMPTSP), with the goal that the issuance of permit for earthquake-resistant buildings can already be fulfilled at the center.

This effort is being bolstered after the earthquake that shook Cianjur, West Java, on November 21, was felt in Jakarta.

In handling disasters, Adji said his side will synergize with related parties, including the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

"The point is that we want Jakarta to have resilience in facing disasters," he remarked.

Meanwhile, Acting Governor of Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono explained that the provincial government will hold a leaders' meeting, with focus on earthquake mitigation, especially related to school buildings' resistance.

In the plan, several school buildings in Jakarta will be completely rehabilitated or refurbished to make them earthquake-resistant.

Earlier, earthquake and tsunami expert Danny Hilman Natawidjaja from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said earthquake-resistant buildings are an important part of preparing against earthquake shocks.

"One of the mitigation methods against earthquake shocks is by applying earthquake-resistant construction of buildings with proper structures," Natawidjaja remarked during a virtual discussion on Friday (December 23).

He said the potential for damages during earthquake can be reduced if all building structures in Indonesia, including houses, have followed the guidelines in the earthquake zoning map and the earthquake-resistant structure standard listed in the National Standard SNI 1726: 2019.

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Translator: Dewa W, Kenzu T
Editor: Sri Haryati
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